Ignore the pigeons, the buskers, the school groups, the endless swirls of traffic – and halt for a moment in what, for all its status as a postcard cliché, is one of London’s most magnificent squares. Nelson’s Column, meanwhile, is, for all its familiarity, a splendid landmark – a towering spire of Dartmoor granite, carved out between 1840 and 1843 at a then-astonishing cost of £47,000. As befits the star of any show, Nelson was late to the party – the statue which crowns the monument was not added until 1867. If measured to the top of his hat, the column is 169ft (51m) tall. And in a classic case of history being written by the winners, the bronze relief plaques on the pedestal which depict his finest hours (and death) are made from the melted torsos of French guns captured at the battle.